Features

Top 5 mid-size family cars

1 Your eyes don’t deceive you. This really is a small Jaguar saloon at
the top of its class. And that’s not because two of its fiercest rivals —
the BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-class — are absent from this list. We’ve
chosen to put the Germans in the estate category because we think they are
at their best in that body style. But even if they were ranked here as
saloons, the Jag would still be at the top, quite simply because it’s the
best car to drive in its category. Its secret appears to be independent rear
suspension that makes the car responsive but also comfortable on British
roads. The upmarket cabin helps to disguise a somewhat stingy specification
(sat nav is standard, but a parking camera is an option on even top-spec
cars), and the engines — even the extremely efficient diesels — perform with
all the purring